Improved railway-chair



UNITED STATES 1 PATENT OFFICE.

NICHOLAS L. DAVIS AND ROBERT O. HEWITT, OF RUTLAND, VERMONT.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-CHAIR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,726, dated July 31, 186,6.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, N. L. DAVIS and R. O. HEWITT, both of Rutland, in the county oi' Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Joint and Holder; and we hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion ot' the same, reference being had to the aocompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of our iniprovement applied to Trails of ordinary construction. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse and longitudinal sections on. lines y z and .t y, respectively. Fig. 4 represents a modified form of holding and joining rails in conformity with this our invention.

The object of our invention is to firmly and permanently secure the ends of rails together and maintain the same in place by means of a simple and comparatively inexpensive device, which, while dispensing with the perforating of the stem of the rail, andl thereby weakening it at the joints, will allow for eX- pansion, substantially as hereinafter described.

To carry our invention into effect we use two bars or plates, P P, of iron, fitted onto the flange or web of the rail, one on each side. At each end of these bars, and bent to embrace the iiange of the rail,is a prolongation or ear, G, through which a bolt, B, passes on the under side of-the rail, uniting by means of a nut the bars or plates on the opposite sides of' the rail. Fitting on these bolts are thimbles T, which till the space between the ears and serve to prevent their drawing together. The bore of this thimble is eccentric-fi. e., its four sides vary in thickness one-sixteenth of an inch, (more or less)t'or the purpose of taking up any lost motion in case of wear byV being turned or moved as the wear may demand. Each ot the bars is also provided with two side notches, within which spikes which secure the chair to the ties are located. The notches are calculated to be of a size to allow of the expansion of the rail. Both the rails and joint are further secured by a wroughtiron chair, O, firmly embracing the bars and the flange of the rail, the four holes in the chair for the spikes being arranged to correspond with the notches in the bars. In this way the whole-4'. e., the rails, holder, and the chairare secured rmly to the ties.

These bars might be used without the downward prolongation or ears and bolts, as shown in Fig. 4c, by having the ends of the barbent up at right angles to the ange of the rail and held by a clamp, M, firmly embracing the bars and flange of the rail, and fastened by a set-screw or key on the under side.

In the former case the chair may be made in two parts. On one a lip is formed to admit of the bar and rail-flange. The piece of iron is straight on the other side, and provided with two spike-holes just the width of the bottom of the rail from the lip.

The spikes are driven into the holes of the chair with the heads bearing on the side piece-s, as in the ordinary way of spiking rails. A similar piece is then placed on the opposite side and spiked in the same way. These are edge and edge together', with one lip on the outside and the other on the inside ofthe joint, which, it will be perceived, will act as a solid chair, and not require any more spikes than the chair before described.

A very important advantage arises from the use of this chair, which is this, that any track in running order can be connected without taking out any of the rails; whereas in the doublelip chair this cannot be accomplished without disturbing the. rails. These two halichairs are spiked to the tie, as in case of other chairs. If a clamp be used, the chair is done away with altogether.

The clamp must be of sut'iicient size to admit of the rail and two side pieces, and by means of a wedge or set-screw this clamp can 'be made fast to the bottom of the rail, caus- InV testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

NICHOLAS L. DAVIS. ROBERT O. HEWITT.

Witnesses:

A. W. CLARK, S. P. GIDDINGs, 2d. 

